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If you teach writing at the secondary level, you need to order this book immediately. I ordered it on a whim last year and couldn’t believe my luck when I read it. It was like I stumbled into a gold mine, full of little nuggets of writing genius. I started using it with my freshman writers and their analytic writing improved dramatically. They referred back to the lessons all year long and I was stunned by their growth. The ideas really stuck with them.

They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing is intended to guide writers away from the pre-packaged five paragraph essay. Instead, it leads students into deeper analytical thinking by having them respond to the ideas in the text they are reading. It’s full of sentence starters that help kick off writing, but then the students have to carry it the rest of the way. It’s the perfect blend of a template and the freedom to write. And it doesn’t encourage a five-paragraph essay! Instead, it encourages essay writing. That’s it. Just writing. No silly length requirements. And I love it.

One Response

Oh, heck yeah! I ordered this as soon as I finished your review. It’s so hard to push kids beyond the “how many paragraphs does this need to be?” In 8th grade, we’re still trying to get the basics (introduction with thesis, body paragraphs to support, conclusion to tie it all up) with so many of them but, by second semester, my honors students at least need to be pushed beyond their comfort level.